“This is my mid-’60s Gibson SG with Bigsby bar, leaned against my prototype predecessor of the Mesa Boogie amp. The guitar is relatively stock, with a stock P-90 pickup on the bass end; however, the treble pickup is a P.J. Marx, from the mid 1980s.” Barry “The Fish” Melton wrote this caption for the Equipboard photo of his primary guitar — and the statement’s specific combination of vintage instrument, prototype amplifier, stock pickup, and mid-1980s aftermarket modification captures the specific character of a musician who has been playing guitar since the mid-1960s and who relates to his equipment with the calm specificity of someone who knows exactly what he has and why. The guitar in the photo is the Gibson SG Standard with Bigsby vibrato that is visible on him in the Woodstock documentary — the one where he flashes “a big grin and a joint at the camera just before he charges to the front of the stage… to launch into ‘Rock and Soul Music.'” The amp in the photo is a prototype of what would become the Mesa Boogie — the amplifier that Randy Smith was building in his San Francisco Bay Area shop when Melton and the Country Joe orbit were part of the same psychedelic scene. They intersected in the way that things intersected in San Francisco in the late 1960s: through proximity, through community, through the specific geography of the counterculture. He became a criminal defense attorney in 1982. He has maintained that practice since. He still plays guitar. The SG is still there.
Barry “The Fish” Melton was born on June 14, 1947, in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in Los Angeles and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he enrolled briefly at San Francisco State University before dropping out to become a full-time guitar player. He co-founded Country Joe and the Fish with Country Joe McDonald in Berkeley in 1965, emerging from the Bay Area folk and protest music scene at the specific moment when the Free Speech Movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, and the emerging psychedelic rock tradition were all converging in the same geography and the same community. Country Joe and the Fish appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival (1967) and the Woodstock Festival (1969) — both captured in documentary films that documented the band’s specific place in the cultural history of the 1960s. He also co-founded the Dinosaurs — the San Francisco Bay Area “supergroup” of 1960s rock veterans that included members of Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and other bands — and has released solo recordings. Since 1982 he has maintained a criminal defense practice and is a member of the State Bar of California. He is seventy-eight years old. He is still playing. The grin in the Woodstock film has never really left.
Background: Brooklyn, Berkeley, Free Speech Movement, Country Joe 1965, Monterey Pop, Woodstock 1969, “The Fish,” Defense Attorney 1982
Country Joe and the Fish’s specific position in the cultural history of the 1960s is as the most explicitly political of the San Francisco psychedelic bands — a distinction that reflects both their Berkeley origins (the Free Speech Movement and the anti-war movement were most intensely concentrated at the University of California, Berkeley, and in the surrounding community) and the specific character of Country Joe McDonald’s songwriting, which was more directly and more satirically political than the more cosmic or mystical orientation of Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, or Quicksilver Messenger Service.
The “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag” — the anti-Vietnam War anthem whose “Fish Cheer” introduction (involving the spelling of a word whose first letter is not actually F but whose audience customarily substituted F) became one of the defining moments of the Woodstock documentary — is the most culturally significant song Country Joe and the Fish recorded. Melton’s guitar on these recordings — the mid-1960s Gibson SG Standard that was his primary instrument through the band’s entire career — provided the specific psychedelic rock guitar context for McDonald’s political lyrics: the fuzz-heavy, feedback-prone, reverberant guitar of late-1960s psychedelic rock applied to explicitly anti-war content.
His transition from full-time musician to practicing attorney — passing the California Bar and establishing a criminal defense practice in 1982 — is the most dramatically career-changing biographical fact in this guide. He did not retire from music; he continued playing with the Dinosaurs and as a solo artist. But his primary professional identity shifted from musician to attorney, a shift that distinguishes him from virtually every other musician in this catalog. The specific choice of criminal defense as his legal specialty — representing individuals charged with criminal offenses — reflects the same political and human rights orientation that characterized his music in the 1960s. Different medium, same values.
The Vintage Guitar magazine characterization of his Woodstock appearance — “one of the most indelible images from ‘Woodstock,’ the documentary of the legendary 1969 rock festival, is that of Country Joe & the Fish guitarist Barry Melton flashing a big grin — and a joint — at the camera just before he charges to the front of the stage with his Gibson SG Standard to launch into ‘Rock and Soul Music'” — captures both the specific guitar (the SG Standard that is also the guitar in his Equipboard photo) and the specific human quality of his presence in that moment: the grin, the joint, the charge to the front of the stage. He was twenty-two years old at Woodstock. He has been playing that guitar since before Woodstock.
The Rig: Barry Melton’s Guitars, Amps, and Effects
Guitars
Mid-1960s Gibson SG Standard with Bigsby Vibrato Bar (Primary Guitar, Woodstock Guitar): Barry Melton’s primary documented guitar is his mid-1960s Gibson SG Standard equipped with a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece — the guitar visible in the Woodstock documentary film and described in his own Equipboard caption: “This is my mid-’60s Gibson SG with Bigsby bar, leaned against my prototype predecessor of the Mesa Boogie amp.” The mid-1960s Gibson SG Standard is one of the most historically significant electric guitars in rock history — the period when Gibson had replaced the original Les Paul with the SG design (1961) and was producing the specific thin-body, double-cutaway, dual-humbucker instrument that Tony Iommi, Angus Young, and many other celebrated guitarists subsequently used as their primary instrument. For Melton’s specific mid-1960s example, the pickups are the critical tonal detail: the stock P-90 on the bass end (the low-output, midrange-forward single-coil that Gibson used in specific configurations) and the aftermarket P.J. Marx on the treble end.
The Bigsby vibrato — a spring-loaded tailpiece vibrato system that produces a subtle pitch variation when the arm is depressed — provides the specific gentle vibrato effect that the Bigsby is famous for: warmer and smoother than a Floyd Rose, more organic than a Strat-style synchronized tremolo, and associated specifically with the hollow and semi-hollow guitar tradition (though widely used on solid-body instruments as well). In the psychedelic rock context, the Bigsby’s gentle vibrato complemented the fuzz and feedback-prone approach of late-1960s psychedelic guitar.
P-90 Pickup (Stock, Bass Side) and P.J. Marx Pickup (Mid-1980s Replacement, Treble Side): The specific pickup configuration of Melton’s SG is documented in his own words: “The guitar is relatively stock, with a stock P-90 pickup on the bass end; however, the treble pickup is a P.J. Marx, from the mid 1980s.” The P-90 is a single-coil pickup that Gibson produced from the late 1940s through the introduction of the humbucker in 1957, and continued producing alongside humbuckers in certain models through the 1960s and beyond. Its specific character — more output and warmer midrange than a Fender single-coil, but with the single-coil’s characteristic clarity and presence rather than the humbucker’s compression — makes it particularly suited to the bluesy, expressive playing that influenced 1960s rock guitarists. The P.J. Marx replacement on the treble side — a boutique pickup from a small California manufacturer — reflects the mid-1980s modification that customized the guitar’s treble-side character while leaving the bass-side P-90 stock.
Gibson SG Standard (Vintage Guitar Magazine Woodstock Description): The Vintage Guitar magazine article specifically identifies the guitar at Woodstock as a “Gibson SG Standard” — consistent with the Equipboard photo description of “mid-’60s Gibson SG.” The SG Standard’s twin-humbucker configuration (with the bass-end P-90 suggesting this may be a non-standard configuration or an early SG model with different pickup options) provided the specific guitar character of the Country Joe and the Fish recordings: the mid-1960s Gibson pickup sound through the specific amplification of the era.
Fuzz Guitar on “Eastern Jam” (Signature Psychedelic Sound): The Psychedelic Scene Magazine characterization of “Eastern Jam” — “Melton’s mesmerizing fuzz guitar” as “one of the band’s best” tracks — documents his use of fuzz effects as the primary psychedelic guitar tool. The fuzz pedal — the transistor-based distortion effect that was the primary electric guitar processing tool of the late 1960s psychedelic rock era — is the specific effect most associated with the psychedelic rock guitar sound. Melton’s use of fuzz on the Country Joe and the Fish recordings was consistent with the broader San Francisco psychedelic rock approach of the era.
Amps
Prototype Mesa Boogie Predecessor (Equipboard Photo Primary Documentation): The most historically significant amp in Barry Melton’s documented gear is not a production Mesa Boogie but a prototype that preceded the production amplifier: “leaned against my prototype predecessor of the Mesa Boogie amp.” Mesa Boogie — founded by Randy Smith in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s, initially as a custom amplifier modification operation — grew from the specific community of Bay Area musicians who were aware of Smith’s work on amplifiers before the Mesa Boogie became a commercial product. Melton’s prototype “predecessor of the Mesa Boogie amp” represents the specific intersection of the San Francisco psychedelic rock community and the amplifier development that was happening in the same geographic and social space. The prototype predates the production Mesa Boogie; having it implies that Melton was part of the community that knew Randy Smith and his work before Mesa Boogie became the commercially significant amplifier brand it subsequently became.
Mesa Boogie’s specific historical context: Randy Smith was modifying Fender amplifiers (specifically Fender Princeton and Fender Deluxe models) to produce higher gain and more power in the early-to-mid 1960s, working in the Bay Area. The modified Fenders — which could produce significantly more volume and gain than the stock circuit — were attractive to the electric rock musicians of the era, including those in the San Francisco psychedelic rock community. The prototype that Melton owns is the specific early expression of this work, before it became the production Mesa Boogie that defined American high-gain amplification from the 1970s onward.
Various Period-Appropriate Amplifiers (Late 1960s Psychedelic Rock Era): Beyond the prototype Mesa Boogie predecessor, the specific production amplifiers used by Barry Melton and Country Joe and the Fish for their Vanguard Records albums (Electric Music for the Mind and Body, 1967; I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die, 1967; Together, 1968; Here We Are Again, 1969) and for the Woodstock and Monterey performances are not documented with the precision of his post-career Equipboard photo. The period-appropriate amplification context would include Fender amplifiers (the Fender Super Reverb and Fender Twin Reverb were the standard professional rock amplifiers of the era), modified Fenders (consistent with the Randy Smith/Mesa Boogie predecessor connection), and the various combinations of amplification that characterized the eclectic, improvisational, and technically non-standardized approach of San Francisco psychedelic rock’s live performance context.
Effects
Fuzz Pedal (Primary Psychedelic Effect, “Eastern Jam” Documentation): The fuzz pedal — the transistor-based clipping effect that was the defining guitar processing tool of the 1960s psychedelic rock era — is the primary documented effect in Barry Melton’s psychedelic rock guitar approach. Psychedelic Scene Magazine’s characterization of “Eastern Jam” as featuring “Melton’s mesmerizing fuzz guitar” documents the specific tonal character of the Country Joe and the Fish guitar playing that distinguished the band from acoustic folk and from the more conventional rock of the era. The specific fuzz pedal model(s) used are not documented in the available primary sources, but the context — San Francisco, late 1960s, psychedelic rock — suggests the era-appropriate fuzz options: the Maestro Fuzz-Tone (the original commercial fuzz, used on Keith Richards’s “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”), the Vox Tone Bender, the Fuzz Face (in its various configurations), and the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi (from 1969 onward).
Bigsby Vibrato Arm (Vibrato Effect, Part of Guitar): The Bigsby vibrato tailpiece on the mid-1960s SG provides the gentle pitch-modulation vibrato effect that was used throughout the Country Joe and the Fish recordings. Unlike a tremolo pedal (which creates volume oscillation), or a whammy bar on a synchronized tremolo (which allows deeper pitch variation), the Bigsby provides a specific subtle, organic pitch flutter when the arm is depressed and released. In the psychedelic rock context, this Bigsby vibrato complemented the fuzz’s tonal coloring and the feedback-prone amplification of the era.
Feedback and Amplifier-Based Effects (Performance Technique): The specific psychedelic guitar playing of the Country Joe and the Fish era relied heavily on amplifier feedback — the controlled use of the electric guitar’s acoustic interaction with the amplifier’s speaker output to produce sustained, pitch-variable notes without the guitarist continuing to pick the string. Feedback was not a pedal effect but a performance technique: standing at a specific angle to the amplifier, at a specific distance, producing the specific resonant frequencies of the guitar body’s interaction with the amplifier’s sound. Jimi Hendrix’s feedback-as-melody approach (developed simultaneously in the same psychedelic rock era) is the most celebrated example; Melton’s fuzz-heavy, feedback-prone approach to the Country Joe and the Fish recordings reflects the same technique deployed in a different musical context.
Playing Style & Tone Philosophy
Barry Melton’s playing style is the most historically rooted in this section of the guide — the approach of a guitarist who developed his technique in the specific creative context of the San Francisco psychedelic rock scene of 1965-1970, whose influences span the blues tradition (Chicago electric blues was a primary influence on Bay Area psychedelic rock), the folk music tradition (both his and Country Joe McDonald’s backgrounds included extensive folk music), and the specific experimental approach of the psychedelic era’s most adventurous guitarists.
His tone philosophy is the late-1960s psychedelic philosopher’s philosophy: the sound is the message. The fuzz pedal’s distortion, the Bigsby’s vibrato, the amplifier’s feedback, the guitar’s natural resonance — all of these are expressive tools in service of the specific emotional and political content of the music. The Country Joe and the Fish recordings are political statements as much as musical ones; the guitar tone is the emotional environment of the statement.
His subsequent life as a criminal defense attorney — representing individuals charged with criminal offenses in the California court system — is the specific biographical dimension that gives his guitar story its full context. He did not stop being a musician when he became an attorney; he continued playing. But the primacy of music in his professional life gave way to the primacy of law, and the guitar became the instrument of personal expression alongside the professional identity of the courtroom. The grin at Woodstock was genuine; the legal career is genuine; the SG is still there for both.
How to Sound Like Barry Melton
Guitar: A mid-1960s Gibson SG Standard (or any quality SG with P-90 pickups — the stock P-90’s specific midrange character is the foundational tone) with a Bigsby B7 vibrato tailpiece (for the SG body). The P-90’s character — brighter and more midrange-forward than a humbucker, warmer and more present than a Fender single-coil — is the specific pickup sound of the psychedelic rock era’s blues-influenced guitar approach.
Amp: A Fender Super Reverb or Fender Twin Reverb (the period-appropriate American clean amplifiers of the late 1960s Bay Area rock scene) for the clean, reverberant foundation. A modified Fender or proto-Mesa for additional gain. Volume high enough for natural feedback interaction with the guitar.
Amp Settings (Fender-Style Clean Amp — Late 1960s Psychedelic Platform):
| Control | Setting (0–10) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Volume | 6–8 | High enough for natural feedback; the fuzz does the distortion |
| Bass | 5–6 | Full — the P-90’s midrange needs low-end support |
| Mid | 5 | Natural — the P-90 provides its own midrange character |
| Treble | 5–6 | Present — the psychedelic guitar needs treble presence for harmonic feedback |
| Reverb | 4–6 | Moderate-high — the spring reverb of 1960s Fenders is part of the psychedelic sound |
Fuzz: Any silicon fuzz (Fuzz Face-style silicon circuit) or germanium fuzz (Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, Vox Tone Bender) for the specific warm-to-aggressive transition of 1960s fuzz. Set gain high, volume at unity or above. The fuzz into a moderate-volume clean Fender amp with the Bigsby for vibrato: this is the psychedelic rock guitar tone of 1967-1969 San Francisco.
Influence & Legacy
Barry Melton’s influence on psychedelic rock guitar is specifically the influence of a Woodstock-era guitarist who helped define the specific Bay Area psychedelic rock guitar sound — the combination of blues-influenced playing, fuzz-heavy distortion, feedback control, and the specific political consciousness that gave Country Joe and the Fish’s music its particular character within the broader San Francisco psychedelic tradition. His specific guitar work — the “mesmerizing fuzz guitar” of “Eastern Jam,” the Woodstock performance with the SG Standard — is part of the documented history of 1960s rock.
His connection to Rick Springfield (Series 2 #191) as a fellow veteran rock musician who has been active since the late 1960s reflects the shared historical depth. His connection to Susanna Hoffs (Series 2 #193) as a fellow Los Angeles/Bay Area musician reflects the shared California rock tradition. His connection to Vini Reilly (Series 2 #194) as a fellow musician from the same era whose approach was equally distinctive and equally outside the mainstream reflects the shared commitment to individual musical vision over commercial convention.
Internal Links:
- Rick Springfield, a fellow veteran rock musician active since the late 1960s at #191
- Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles, a fellow California rock musician at #193
- Vini Reilly of Durutti Column, a fellow musician whose approach was equally distinctive and outside the mainstream at #194
- Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music, a parallel figure in the art-influenced rock tradition that evolved from the late 1960s at #199
Frequently Asked Questions: Barry Melton Country Joe and the Fish Guitars & Gear
What guitar did Barry Melton use at Woodstock?
Barry Melton used his mid-1960s Gibson SG Standard with Bigsby vibrato bar at Woodstock — the same guitar documented in his Equipboard photo with the caption: “This is my mid-’60s Gibson SG with Bigsby bar, leaned against my prototype predecessor of the Mesa Boogie amp.” The Vintage Guitar magazine description of the Woodstock moment confirms: “Barry Melton flashing a big grin — and a joint — at the camera just before he charges to the front of the stage with his Gibson SG Standard to launch into ‘Rock and Soul Music.'” The guitar’s pickup configuration: stock P-90 on the bass end, P.J. Marx aftermarket replacement on the treble end (installed in the mid-1980s).
What is the prototype Mesa Boogie predecessor in Melton’s photo?
In his Equipboard photo caption, Melton describes his SG as “leaned against my prototype predecessor of the Mesa Boogie amp.” Mesa Boogie was founded by Randy Smith in the San Francisco Bay Area, initially as a custom amplifier modification operation (primarily modifying Fender amplifiers for higher gain and power) before becoming a commercial amplifier manufacturer. The prototype in Melton’s photo predates the production Mesa Boogie, placing him in the community of Bay Area musicians who were aware of Randy Smith’s work before Mesa Boogie became a commercial brand. The specific prototype model is not identified beyond “predecessor of the Mesa Boogie.”
Is Barry Melton really a practicing attorney?
Yes. Barry Melton passed the California Bar and established a criminal defense practice in 1982, which he has maintained since. He is a member of the State Bar of California. His legal specialty — criminal defense — reflects the same political and human rights orientation that characterized Country Joe and the Fish’s anti-war and counterculture music in the 1960s. He continues to play music alongside his legal career; he co-founded the Dinosaurs (a San Francisco Bay Area 1960s rock veterans’ supergroup) and has released solo recordings.
What is Country Joe and the Fish’s most famous song?
Country Joe and the Fish’s most culturally significant song is the “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag” — the anti-Vietnam War anthem whose Woodstock performance (featuring the “Fish Cheer” audience participation section) became one of the defining moments of the Woodstock documentary film. Other significant recordings include “Bass Strings,” “Eastern Jam” (featuring Melton’s celebrated fuzz guitar work), “Rock and Soul Music,” and “Grace.” The band was signed to Vanguard Records and released four studio albums between 1967 and 1969.
What were Country Joe and the Fish’s primary guitar influences?
The Vintage Guitar magazine interview and the Grokipedia documentation identify Country Joe and the Fish’s musical roots in the Bay Area folk music scene, the blues tradition (Sam Charters, who produced early blues recordings, was involved with the band), and the emerging psychedelic rock of the San Francisco Bay Area. Melton’s guitar playing reflected the Chicago electric blues tradition (the primary influence on Bay Area psychedelic rock guitarists) alongside the experimental, feedback-oriented approach of the psychedelic era.
What is the Dinosaurs band?
The Dinosaurs was a San Francisco Bay Area rock supergroup composed of veteran musicians from the 1960s San Francisco psychedelic scene — including Barry Melton alongside members of Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and other major 1960s Bay Area bands. The band formed in the late 1980s and performed and recorded into the 1990s, providing a vehicle for the surviving members of the original San Francisco psychedelic scene to continue making music together. Melton was a co-founder and primary guitarist.
What is P.J. Marx pickup?
P.J. Marx is a small California boutique pickup manufacturer whose treble-side replacement pickup Melton installed in his mid-1960s Gibson SG in the mid-1980s. The specific tonal character of the P.J. Marx compared to the original mid-1960s Gibson pickup it replaced is not documented in available sources beyond Melton’s own Equipboard caption noting the replacement. The installation of an aftermarket boutique pickup in the treble position while leaving the stock P-90 in the bass position reflects a targeted modification approach — changing the treble character while preserving the bass character of the original guitar configuration.
